As everyone else has done it, I'd like to declare that I'm a councillor—only for a few more days. I'd like to start by thanking my colleague Sam Rowlands for opening this debate and all my other colleagues for their comments so far. Though we have talked about the different issues facing our communities, I want to take this opportunity to talk about the system of centralised Government planning that we have here in Wales, and how it will always fail to adequately understand the future needs and wants of local communities. So, it will always fall short in providing effectively for them. Some failures we are seeing today in our communities are caused by the fact that the Welsh Government did not foresee the changes within communities five, 10 or even 15 years ago, and so did not develop appropriate policy.

Moreover, the relatively slow process of legislating means that it takes several years before data is sufficiently collected, policy is written and then passed through the Chamber, which means that community cohesion is often lost or damaged long before steps are eventually taken. This then means that Government is always playing catch-up to restore what was lost, and people become apathetic to this system of Government. 

I believe what is really needed to help our local communities is the ability for them to more effectively decide what works best for them, and then Government to support them in a timely fashion, which allows for an agile community response to existential threats. This support could be a system of temporary legislation that is enacted in order to prevent problems from becoming worse, and that holds until more evidence is collected or a fuller legislative procedure is passed. 

Let's take Maindy velodrome as a working example. Cathays High School want to expand onto the site, and in so doing, they will destroy a local and historic community asset. The community are thus cornered by Cardiff Council, because if they do not agree to give up their much-loved velodrome, then there will be no or just limited upgrades to Cathays High School. I believe that it is wrong that a community should be put into such a position as this, because it creates long-lasting divisions, as some people will fight to save the velodrome and others will fight for the school upgrade. These divisions also become extremely personal. For example, those fighting to save the velodrome will undoubtedly and unfairly be accused of wanting to deprive children of an improved education. 

There is another issue in that local communities have no power to formally recognise and stop developments they perceive to have a negative  impact. To take another example with Cowbridge old girls' school, there's overwhelming local support to save this building. The community wants it but it doesn't tick the right boxes for Cadw. The Deputy Minister responsible believes that the local community just has to lump it and lose local heritage that is important to them. It is fundamentally wrong that this community does not have the power to save this piece of local heritage, and I believe that they should be empowered by Welsh Government to repurpose this building, and then support their project rather than simply washing their hands of it. 

We therefore need greater empowerment of local communities to save what matters to them, and to use the power of Government, local or otherwise, to enforce it. So, rather than Government telling communities what they think they want, Government has a duty of care to respond to what the community actually wants. If we are here to help local communities to stay vibrant, healthy and dynamic, they must have the ability to prevent unwanted changes being forced upon them by Government and other outside influences. Mechanisms should be in place that can be enacted quickly to protect the community when a problem is identified, and communities should not have to fight so hard to get their voices heard. 

I believe that communities across Wales have been let down by the Welsh Government because it does not empower them. Instead, it puts so many obstacles in their way that they're encouraged not to bother, or simply just give up. Sometimes, the most financially efficient way for a council is not always best for the community, and we have to accept this if we are to protect local communities for the future. Thank you.